Enlightened leftists hesitate to embrace the law banning burkas because it places feminists beside radical rightists.

By Amalia Rosenblum Published 02:04 22.07.10

France's National Assembly last week passed the "burka law," which bans wearing the full-body veil in public. Although the law passed with an overwhelming majority, other Western countries are hesitant to join the campaign.

Their hesitation is understandable. The burka law touches a sensitive junction in the Western conscience, in which classic feminism meets radical postmodernism, also known as cultural relativism.

From a classic feminist perspective, this is welcome legislation that joins the ranks of other laws intended to overcome acts of violence committed against women throughout the world in the name of tradition. The burka is a long, body-covering garment that reveals only the wearer's eyes and hands. T